Oil & Gas

Drilling for petroleum products has been part of the economic life of the Santa Barbara Channel since 1896.
Data
A figure showing trends in offshore oil and gas activity in Southern California from 1975 to 2014. Data source: Annual reports of the California State Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources; Figure credit: K. Andrews/NOAA.

A figure showing trends in offshore oil and gas activity in Southern California from 1975 to 2014. Data source: Annual reports of the California State Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources; Figure credit: K. Andrews/NOAA.

Click for Details The status and trends of offshore oil and gas activity in southern California was measured using a normalized index of oil and gas production from offshore wells in state and federal waters in California. Activity has been stable over the last five years, but the short-term average was well below the long-term average (dashed green line). A rather steady decrease in oil and gas production has occurred since the mid-1990s. Data source: B. Owens/CDFW; Figure credit: NOAA. For more information, consult Figure App.C.4.17 in the CINMS 2016 Condition Report.

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Oil & Gas Maps
Offshore Oil Platforms
A map of offshore oil platforms within the Santa Barbara Channel, from west to east: Hondo, Harmony, Heritage, Holly, C, B, A, Hillhouse, Habitat, Henry, Houchin, Hogan, Rincon Island, Grace, Gilda, Gail, and Gina. Data source: State of California GeoPortal; Map: M. Cajandig/NOAA

A map of offshore oil platforms within the Santa Barbara Channel, from west to east: Hondo, Harmony, Heritage, Holly, C, B, A, Hillhouse, Habitat, Henry, Houchin, Hogan, Rincon Island, Grace, Gilda, Gail, and Gina. Data source: State of California GeoPortal; Map: M. Cajandig/NOAA

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2015 Refugio Oil Spill
A map showing the area around the Santa Barbara Coast affected by the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill. Data source: Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) Shoreline Oiling. Map. Map: M. Cajandig/NOAA

A map showing the area around the Santa Barbara Coast affected by the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill. Data source: Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) Shoreline Oiling. Map. Map: M. Cajandig/NOAA

Click for Details Diagonal black lines cover the area where oil sheen was observed after the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill. The dark black line indicates the short-term fishery closures. See Figures C2.4 and C13.5 for the modeled oil transport, which predicts crude oil reaching sanctuary waters, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz islands north-facing beaches days after the spill. For more information, consult Figure App.C.2.3 in the CINMS 2016 Condition Report.

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A map showing projected oil movement following the Refugio Oil Spill in May 2015. Figure credit: B. Emery and L. Washburn/UCSB.

A map showing projected oil movement following the Refugio Oil Spill in May 2015. Figure credit: B. Emery and L. Washburn/UCSB.

Click for Details Modeled oil trajectories based on high frequency (HF) radar and averaged sea surface current vectors during the month of May 2015 (green and blue lines). Yellow triangles represent SCCOOS HF Radar stations, and oil platforms are shown as small gray dots. The HF station at Gaviota was installed immediately after the spill to avoid local data gaps during this critical monitoring time period. It was only active for one and a half months. PTC = Point Conception; RFG = Refugio State Beach; COP = Coal Oil Point; SSD = Summerland Sanitary District; MGS = Mandalay Generating Station; SCI = Santa Cruz Island. Pink lines indicate commercial shipping lanes. The black line encircles the region of interest. For more information, consult Figure App.C.2.4 in the CINMS 2016 Condition Report.

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An image of modeled sea surface current directions used to predict oil movement from May 20 to May 25, immediately following the Refugio Oil Spill (2015). Source: SCCOOS; Figure credit: B. Emery and L. Washburn/UCSB.

An image of modeled sea surface current directions used to predict oil movement from May 20 to May 25, immediately following the Refugio Oil Spill (2015). Source: SCCOOS; Figure credit: B. Emery and L. Washburn/UCSB.

Click for Details Daily snapshots of oil transport simulations (blue dots) based on near-real time sea surface current direction and speeds (black arrows) from May 20 to 25, 2015, the days just after the Refugio oil spill. Yellow triangles represent SCCOOS high frequency radar (HFR) observation stations. PTC = Point Conception; RFG = Refugio State Beach; COP = Coal Oil Point. Not pictured is a HFR station at Gaviota, which was temporarily installed for one and half months following the spill (currently no longer active, see http://washburnlab.msi.ucsb.edu/mtu1) to address local data gaps. Not labeled is the yellow triangle/HFR station on Santa Cruz Island. Pink lines indicated commercial shipping lanes. The full oil transport model simulation can be viewed online. For more information, consult Figure App.C.2.5 in the CINMS 2016 Condition Report.

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